JP2006201341A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain consumption of toner and to shorten the processing time for resist adjustment. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus, having a black image forming cartridge and an image forming cartridge obtained by integrating a plurality of color image forming units, is equipped with a resist mark forming means (2) forming a resist mark (3) on an intermediate transfer belt, a resist mark sensor (25) reading the resist mark, and a control means (1) controlling the resist mark forming means based on the resist mark read by the resist mark sensor so as to perform the resist adjustment. The control means has an adjusting mode for performing the resist adjustment between black and color. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an image forming cartridge in which a black image forming cartridge and a plurality of color image forming units are integrated.

Conventionally, in a tandem type full-color image forming apparatus, four image forming cartridges, which are unitized by assembling a photosensitive drum, a cleaner, a charger, a developing unit, etc., can be detachably attached to the main unit. In order to improve the point that misalignment is likely to occur when an image forming cartridge is inserted and removed for replacement of consumables, two types of image forming cartridges, a monochrome image forming cartridge and a three-color integrated image forming cartridge, are improved. An image forming cartridge has also been proposed (Patent Document 1).
JP-A-9-304994

  In an image forming apparatus such as Patent Document 1, when correcting color misregistration between respective color images, usually, four color resist marks are formed on an intermediate transfer belt and resist control is performed. There is a problem in that the amount of processing increases as the amount increases and the processing time for color misregistration correction increases.

SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that in an image forming apparatus having an image forming cartridge in which a black image forming cartridge and an image forming unit of a plurality of colors are integrated, toner consumption is reduced and processing time is reduced. The purpose is to shorten the resist adjustment.
Therefore, the present invention provides a registration mark forming means for forming a registration mark on an intermediate transfer belt in an image forming apparatus having an image forming cartridge in which a black image forming cartridge and an image forming unit of a plurality of colors are integrated, and a registration mark A registration sensor that controls the registration mark based on the registration mark read by the registration sensor, and a control unit that performs registration adjustment, wherein the control unit is an adjustment mode that performs registration adjustment between black and color. It is characterized by having.
According to the present invention, the control means forms a first color registration mark of yellow, magenta, and cyan and a black registration mark, respectively, and performs registration adjustment between black and color; And a second adjustment mode for performing registration adjustment by forming a mark, and performing registration adjustment by switching between the first adjustment mode and the second adjustment mode.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that in the first adjustment mode, the control means performs registration adjustment by printing black and a color registration mark at a position closest to black.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the control means switches a color for forming a registration mark in accordance with the remaining amount of toner.

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus having an image forming cartridge in which a black image forming cartridge and an image forming unit of a plurality of colors are integrated, and has an adjustment mode for adjusting the registration between black and color, which is likely to cause registration deviation. Therefore, the consumption of color toner can be suppressed, and the processing time for resist adjustment can be shortened.
In addition, a first adjustment mode in which one color of black, magenta, and cyan and a black resist mark are respectively formed to perform resist adjustment between black and color, and resist adjustment is performed by forming all color resist marks. By performing registration adjustment by switching to the second adjustment mode, consumption of color toner can be similarly suppressed, and processing time for registration adjustment can be shortened.
Further, in the first adjustment mode, by performing registration adjustment by printing black and a color registration mark that is closest to black, it is possible to easily perform registration adjustment between black and color.
Further, by switching the color for forming the registration mark according to the remaining amount of toner, it is possible to suppress the consumption of uneven color toner.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of a tandem color image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
In FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment is stretched between a driving roller 21 and a driven roller 22, and extends in the length direction of an endless intermediate transfer belt 20 to which a predetermined tension is applied by a tension roller 23. In addition, four color photoconductor units 10 (a black photoconductor unit 10K, a cyan photoconductor unit 10C, a magenta photoconductor unit 10M, and a yellow photoconductor unit 10Y) are arranged. An intermediate transfer belt cleaner 24 is provided at a position facing the driven roller 22, and a registration sensor 25 for detecting the printing position is provided. Each color photoconductor unit 10 has a developing unit 12 having a toner supply roller 13 and a developing roller 14, an exposure unit 15, a charger 16, and a photoconductor cleaner 17 around a roller-shaped photoconductor 11. The photoconductor excluding the exposure device, the developing device unit, the charger, and the photoconductor cleaner are integrated as an image forming cartridge and are handled as consumables.

  Each color primary transfer roller 30 (a black primary transfer roller 30K, a cyan primary transfer roller 30C, a magenta primary transfer roller 30M, and a yellow primary transfer roller 30Y) is positioned at a position opposite to each color photoconductor with the intermediate transfer belt 20 therebetween. A secondary transfer roller 47 is provided at a secondary transfer position that is disposed and faces the drive roller 34 with the intermediate transfer belt 20 interposed therebetween.

  Each color photoconductor unit 10 uniformly charges the photoconductor 11 with a charger 16 to a predetermined potential, and then exposes the image with an exposure device 15 to form an image-like electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor. The toner image is developed to form a toner image, which is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 20, and the transfer residual toner is cleaned by the photoconductor cleaner 17. On the other hand, a sheet feeding cassette 40 is provided at the lower part of the apparatus, and the sheet fed by the feeding roller 41 is conveyed through the conveying path 43, and the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is collectively transferred onto the sheet at the secondary transfer position. The After the secondary transfer, the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 49 and then discharged to a tray at the top of the apparatus. In the case of duplex printing, the paper after the front surface printing is conveyed to the secondary transfer position through the conveyance path 45, and after the toner image is transferred to the back surface, the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 49 and discharged to the tray at the top of the apparatus. To do.

  In the present embodiment, the image forming cartridges of the cyan photoconductor unit 10C, the magenta photoconductor unit 10M, and the yellow photoconductor unit 10Y are integrally configured, and resist displacement hardly occurs even when the color cartridge is replaced. ing. However, since the monochrome cartridge and the color cartridge are separate, a registration shift between black and color is likely to occur. Therefore, it is necessary to perform registration control at a timing after the image forming cartridge insertion / extraction operation is performed, for example, when exchanging consumables.

Next, registration control in an image forming apparatus having such a three-color integrated color cartridge will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the registration control, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the registration control.
The control device 1 is a control unit that performs registration adjustment of the image forming apparatus, and is configured as an independent single controller or a part of a controller that controls the entire process. The registration adjustment is a process for preventing the positional deviation between the color images formed on the intermediate transfer belt. For example, the exposure timing and driving speed of each color photoconductor, the driving speed of the intermediate transfer belt, etc. are set so that each color image (registration mark) of Y, M, C, Bk is formed on the intermediate transfer belt at equal intervals. At this time, the registration mark 3 actually formed on the intermediate transfer belt is read by the registration sensor 25 having a light projecting / receiving unit, and the controller 1 checks whether or not they are at equal intervals. As a result, when the color registration marks are not formed at equal intervals, the control device 1 controls the registration mark forming means (photosensitive unit, intermediate transfer belt, intermediate transfer belt driving means, etc.) so as to be equally spaced. To do. By this control, for example, the exposure timing in the exposure apparatus, the driving speed of the photosensitive member, the driving speed of the intermediate transfer belt, and the like are adjusted. Here, the resist adjustment in which the resist marks are formed at equal intervals is illustrated, but the resist marks are formed not only at equal intervals but also in an arbitrary pattern so that the set pattern is formed. You may make it adjust. In this way, if it can be adjusted to form registration marks as set, image formation without color misregistration between colors can be performed.

  By the way, in the image forming apparatus having the three-color integrated image forming cartridge as shown in FIG. 1, the registration deviation among Y, M, and C hardly occurs, but the monochrome image forming cartridge is separate. In addition, registration deviation is likely to occur between black and color. Therefore, in this embodiment, an adjustment mode for adjusting the registration between black and color is provided, and the registration between black and color is performed at the timing after the insertion / extraction operation of the image forming cartridge is performed, for example, when exchanging consumables. Take control.

  FIG. 2A shows an example of the all-color adjustment mode, in which Bk, C, M, and Y registration marks are formed on the intermediate transfer belt at equal intervals, and registration adjustment is performed between the respective colors. In this case, since the image forming cartridges are integrated with each of C, M, and Y, registration deviation hardly occurs. Therefore, if this adjustment is frequently performed, registration marks are frequently formed for C, M, and Y in spite of maintaining the resist accuracy, and toner is unnecessarily consumed. Time is required for the processing.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, since the image forming cartridge is a separate body, there is provided a mode for performing registration adjustment between black and color, which easily causes registration deviation, and any of black, Y, M, and C is provided. Is adjusted to one color, and if necessary, it is switched to the resist adjustment mode for all colors. In the resist adjustment between black and one color, consumption of color toner can be suppressed, and the processing time can be shortened compared with the adjustment between four colors because of the adjustment between two colors.

  In this way, the first adjustment mode in which one of the colors Y, M, and C and a black resist mark is formed and the resist adjustment between black and color is performed, and the resist adjustment is performed by forming all color resist marks. By switching the second adjustment mode to be performed and performing registration adjustment, color toner consumption can be suppressed and processing time can be shortened.

  In the case of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, one color to be adjusted between black and black is easy to obtain a resist accuracy when cyan having an image forming unit at a position closest to black. It is preferable to adjust the resist between. Note that if the registration adjustment of only black and a specific color is frequently performed, the toner consumption of the specific color increases, so it is also necessary to determine the color for the registration adjustment with black taking into account the consumption of color toner. is there.

  According to the present invention, the consumption of color toner can be suppressed and the processing time for resist adjustment can be shortened, so the industrial utility value is extremely high.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. It is a block block diagram which performs resist control. It is a figure for demonstrating resist control.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control apparatus, 2 ... Registration mark formation means, 3 ... Registration mark, 25 ... Registration sensor, 10K ... Photoconductor unit for black, 10C ... Photosensitive unit for cyan, 10M ... Photosensitive unit for magenta, 10Y ... For yellow Photosensitive unit, 20 ... intermediate transfer belt, 30K ... black primary transfer roller, 30C ... cyan primary transfer roller, 30M ... magenta primary transfer roller, 30Y ... yellow primary transfer roller.

Claims (4)

In an image forming apparatus having an image forming cartridge in which a black image forming cartridge and an image forming unit of a plurality of colors are integrated,
A resist mark forming means for forming a resist mark on the intermediate transfer belt;
A registration sensor that reads registration marks;
A control means for controlling the registration mark forming means based on the registration mark read by the registration sensor, and for adjusting the registration;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit has an adjustment mode for adjusting a registration between black and color. The control means includes a first adjustment mode in which a registration mark for black and color is adjusted by forming one color of black, magenta, and cyan, and a registration mark for all colors. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second adjustment mode for performing adjustment, and performing registration adjustment by switching between the first adjustment mode and the second adjustment mode. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein in the first adjustment mode, the control unit performs registration adjustment by printing black and a color registration mark at a position closest to black. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches a color for forming a registration mark in accordance with a toner remaining amount.

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